Work Hard. Play Hard. Coach Paul Meyer (NCAA 13)

[rjsuperfly66]

Backup QB Spencer Keith Perfect, Kent St. remains perfect in MAC Play with 38-13 Win Over Miami (OH)
ESPN.com
Week 11, 2012

While David Fisher has not been perfect this season, many people still see him as a valuable asset to the team, and when he took a stinger in the second quarter, down 3-0 with 47 seconds left, there was a collective gasp for the Golden Flashes. Insert Spencer Keith, who completed 3 passes, the final one to Hurdle for 66 yards and the go-ahead TD. Keith finished the game 3-3 for 78 yards and that TD.

"It was pretty awesome. I haven't gotten to play much this year, and to come into a big game for our team and play well, that was pretty special," said Keith after the game.

Kent St. took that 7-3 lead into halftime, and saw their lead stretched to 21-6 at the end of the 3rd after a punt return for TD and a 31 yard connection from Fisher to Goode.

"It's definitely scary when you lose one of the keys to your offense," said Offensive Coordinator Paul Meyer. "We were losing, and we needed a spark for halftime, and he (Keith) definitely delivered."

The momentum was seen in both passing and in rushing, and it was another big game on the ground for Kent St. In what appears to be a mostly 50-50 split to maximize production, Julian Durden (23 rushes, 142 yards) and Trayion Durham (21 rushes, 96 yards) were both productive in keeping the offense rolling.

Kent St. moves to 8-2, 6-0 in conference, and will take their perfect MAC record on the road when they face Bowling Green. Bowling Green is only 2-3 in conference, but their rush defense (143 yards) ranks #26 in the nation.

The conference in a glance: It is official, Week 13 will serve as the MAC East championship between Ohio and Kent St. With a 28-23 win over Bowling Green, Ohio also moved to 6-0 in conference. Regardless of what happens this week, the winner of the week 13 game will own the head-to-head tiebreaker. Northern Illinois seems have all but locked up the MAC West. A 38-6 win vs. UMASS moves the Huskies to 5-1. Meanwhile, Toledo lost to Ball St. to fall to 3-3 in conference, and must win at Northern Illinois this weekend to have a shot at taking the crown in the West. Ball St. is also holding on in the West with a 3-3 record and would need a Toledo win over Northern Illinois and Akron and Northern Illinois losses to Toledo and Eastern Michigan to try to force a tiebreaker (NIU beat Ball St. 21-14 and hold the head to head).

The Nation in a glance: Down Goes Wisconsin! Wisconsin fell all the way to #16 in the rankings from #3 with their loss to now 4-6 Indiana. With the loss, their remain 4 undefeated teams in college football. Georgia (10-0) remained #1 with a 38-10 win vs. Auburn. Kansas St. (10-0) is #2 after a thrilling 42-41 win at #11 TCU. Iowa (10-0) moved up to #3 with a 37-27 win at Purdue, and Utah jumped to #4 after a 35-24 win vs. Washington. Oklahoma rounds out the Top 5 with a 45-14 win at then #10 Baylor.

Game of the Week: In this weeks game of the week battle, #3 Iowa will hit the road and head to #8 8-2 Michigan. Michigan has beaten their last 3 opponents (Nebraska, Minnesota, and Northwestern) by a combined 109-28 score, and looks to eliminate Iowa and help their own cause towards a National Championship.

[rjsuperfly66]

Fisher and Co. cling to MAC Dreams, Win Thriller 35-28
ESPN.com
Week 12, 2012

It was 3rd down and 10 from the Bowling Green 42 yard line. David Fisher had seen this before. He already had TD passes of 46, 39, 56, and 17 yards earlier in the game. If he didn't get this, Bowling Green was going to get a shot to win with the game tied at 28. That is when David Fisher unleashed one of his finest passes of the season, a dagger between safety and middle linebacker for a 42 yard TD pass to TE Casey Pierce for the go-ahead score.

"I played well at times, I also made some stupid passes. But in the end, I'm glad to be the guy who helped get us the win," said Fisher after the game.

At one point in the first half, it looked like Kent St. was going to run away with this game. With TD passes to Adeyemi, Crum, and Goode, Kent St. had the ball in their possession with under a minute left in the first half, holding onto a 21-3 lead. But that is when Fisher made a crucial mistake, an INT forcing a ball on a slant which led to a TD pass with no time left on the clock to cut the lead to 21-10 at half.

"It just wasn't a good pass," said Fisher. "I was a little cocky there after playing so well. I forced it and what made it worse is that they came back and scored a TD."

Still looking good, Kent St. went up 28-13 late in the 3rd quarter on a Crum 17 yard catch from Fisher.

"We were playing really well," said Offensive Coordinator Paul Meyer. "Things clicked for the most part, but when it mattered in the 4th, we seemed to struggle to move the ball."

Taking that 28-13 lead into the 4th quarter, Kent St. saw the lead cut to 1 possession after Bowling Green scored a TD and got the 2 point conversion. With that, Kent St. went to their trademark ground and pound. Trayion Durham had 3 carries for 13 yards in the quarter before leaving with injury. Kent St. ended up punting, but saw no damage. Forcing a punt of their own, Kent ran for 6 yards with Durden, and then saw a golden opportunity.

"They were favoring the run," said Meyer. "We were watching the safeties pinch in. The linebackers play up. We wanted that shot. Coach Hazell and I looked at eachother and knew what we had to do. Play Action, try to burn them."

What happened next was unforseeable. Goode, lined up at WR on the right side of the field, streaked upfield. The corner bit on the fake, and there he was, open with daylight. But David Fisher threw his worst pass of the game, underthrowing him significantly, leading to an interception.

According to Fisher, "The play was not supposed to go to him, and rolling out to try to hit Adeyemi across the field, I was shocked to see him so open. I kind of just let it go, didn't really think. It was a bad reaction."

Bowling Green took advantage of the turnover, and capped off their drive with a 2 yard TD run by Samuel.

"It sucked," said Head Coach Darell Hazell. "So much elation to be in the driver's seat in a game that puts you one step closer towards a MAC perfect season, and then its like someone hit you in the chest with a elbow."

And that is when Fisher made the magic happen.

"It's not easy to be perfect in any form of conference play," said Coach Hazell. "We just have to keep working, big game next week."

David Fisher finished the day 11-20 for 234 yards, with his 5 TD and 2 INT. Trayion Durham ran the ball much better today with 13 rushes for 86 yards, but suffered an undisclosed injury that forced him to leave the game early. Julian Durden picked up the slack, with 25 more rushes for 120 yards.

Kent St. is now 9-2, 7-0 in conference. The only thing standing in between the Golden Flashes and the MAC Championship game is the Ohio Bobcats. Ohio also moved to 9-2 and 7-0 in conference after a 31-13 win at Ball St. Ohio seems to be the trendy pick, as Kirk Herbstreit has already come out and said Ohio will win the game.

The conference in a glance: In the east, Kent St. vs Ohio, battle of 7-0s in conference, will decide the division and will see who will advance to the MAC Championship game. On the west side, a 21-19 win over Toledo has advanced the Northern Illinois Huskies to the MAC Championship game. 6-1 in conference and 7-4 overall, there are well ahead of Western Michigan, Ball St. and Toledo, all tied with 4 losses in conference play.

The Nation in a glance: Another week, another title contender falls. #2 Kansas St. (now #7) lost on the road at #17 Baylor (now #14) 31-17, falling to 10-1 on the season. In another exciting turn of events, Iowa (11-0) won in OT at #8 (now #16 Michigan) 31-24, and leap-frogged #1 (now #2) Georgia, who blew out FCS SE 63-2. With Iowa #1 and Georgia #2 (both at 11-0), Utah won 52-10 at Arizona to jump to 11-0 and keep pace. Oklahoma won against West Virginia to advance to 8-2 and #4 in the country, and Florida St. won in OT against Maryland to move to 10-1 on the season and #5 in the polls.

Game of the Week: We will spotlight both Iowa and Georgia this week. #1 Iowa will host #11 Nebraska, while #2 Georgia will host #24 Georgia Tech. The race for the national championship is still wide open. #1 Iowa looks like they will likely matchup with #17 (10-1) Wisconsin in the Big 10 Championship game. #2 Georgia is set for an SEC Championship matchup vs. #6 (9-2) LSU. #3 Utah will matchup against #8 Oregon (9-2) in the PAC-12 Championship. #4 Oklahoma has no conference championship game, but will face a very hard challenge from #12 TCU to end the season on the road. #5 Florida St. should expect a tough challenge from #19 Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship game. Many teams still have a chance to make it in, so we will keep an eye on all of these games closely.

[Deuce2223]

Making it back to the boards after almost a year off. I am enjoying the read. Keep up the good work.